News Science

News Science

A Study of the Relationship Between Perceived News Quality and Audience Trust: A Case Study of War News Coverage of the Iran–U.S.–Israel Conflict on IRIB Channel 1

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 1. M.A, Social Communication Sciences, Department of Humanities, University of Tehran Science and Research, Ardabil Branch, Iran. E-mail: babak.khiav@gmail.com
2 2. Corresponding author, Associate Professor, Department Educational Sciences, University of of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. E-mail: akbari-Ta@uma.ac.ir
10.22034/lrsi.2026.558980.1471
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to measure the level of trust among government employees in Ardabil province in the news section of Channel 1 of the First Television Network during crisis conditions. This measurement was grounded in a synthesis of social trust theories, the theoretical foundations of news, and classical journalistic criteria-namely accuracy, clarity, and comprehensiveness.
Method: The study employed a quantitative approach utilizing a descriptive-survey method, conducted in the Iranian calendar year 2025–2026. The statistical population comprised all government employees of Ardabil province. The sample size, determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table, consisted of 600 participants- accounting for potential questionnaire attrition-and was selected through random sampling at a 95% confidence level with a 5% margin of error.
Results: The results indicated that age and education variables exhibited a positive and significant relationship with trust in national media news. Among the news writing criteria, accuracy and comprehensiveness demonstrated the strongest positive and significant correlations with audience trust, while clarity also showed a positive- albeit weaker -statistically significant relationship.
Conclusions: The level of trust among government employees in Ardabil province in the news section of Channel 21 of the First Television Network during crisis conditions was found to be not at an optimal level, but rather at a moderate and relative state. The findings underscore that the criteria of news accuracy and comprehensiveness play the foremost role in reinforcing trust in official news. Accordingly, prioritizing the enhancement of these two key indicators by national media policymakers can effectively contribute to increasing the public trust index in the domain of official news.
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